Die Trying
by sourulfur
Summary: It has been four months since Jackson was bitten over Christmas Break, four months in which he has trained with Derek's pack and formed a bond with them. That does not stop the itch he feels to be elsewhere. War is looming on them, and they can all feel it. Lines will be drawn, and someone may just lose themselves along the way. SEQUEL TO "IT'S TIME TO BEGIN"


Jackson sighed as he ran a towel over his head repeatedly, drying the wet strands of hair since he had just gotten out of the shower. Another towel was slung low over his hips as he walked over to the window in his bedroom with a frown. It was storming off to the west again, forming somewhere over the woods. Thunderstorms that time of year were not uncommon, but none of them were typically as violent as the ones that Jackson had witnessed; and, they had started back in mid-January, where light snow was still more common. Nothing had been normal since he had gotten himself bitten, however, and he reached up to where a bite mark _should_ have blemished his skin along with the long, jagged scars on his chest that did not heal right since they did not start to close until after he had finished the transition. Alpha wounds were tricky, apparently. Jackson was still adjusting to life as a werewolf, and he was honestly not sure how he had gone that long without his parents finding out. With a sigh, Jackson dropped the towel in his hand aside and went over to his dresser so that he could pull out some boxers and a pair of sleep pants to tug on.

Once he had, he started to walk over to his phone so that he could call Stiles, only to have his attention drawn to the window outside when he noticed a long series of lightning strikes hitting the same area out in the woods, something that made his brow furrow. That was not normal. After another few moments, Jackson went to pull on a shirt as well and he changed into some jeans. He then grabbed his phone and took out, deciding to go investigate what was going on out in the woods. Jackson knew that he probably should not have been venturing off alone, and that Derek would reprimand him if the alpha found out; but, he did not care. He drove as deeply into the woods as he could take his car without it getting stuck before he got out and started to walk. The clouds had already started to dissipate and it was only sprinkling lightly.

When Jackson got to the spot that he thought the lightning had struck, he could feel the hairs on the back on his neck prickle. There was an energy to the clearing in the woods that should have not been there. It was not natural. He had to fight back a want to _growl_ as his eyes flashed blue and he looked around. There was some kind of altar in the middle of the clearing, with a few abandoned candles but no signs of a lightning strike anywhere. When the wind started to pick up, Jackson scrunched his face up at the slight metallic tang to the air that he had come to associate with _magic_. Stiles sometimes had the same sense around him, sometimes more so than others and increasingly over the previous months.

The wind started to pick up more and the trees around him started to groan under the strength of it. Jackson stared up at the sky as dark clouds started to roll in once again. Thunder rumbled and lightning lit the clouds without producing a single bolt to the ground. "Jackson?" he heard to his right and he turned to see Isaac standing a few feet away with a furrowed brow. "Did you see...?"

His question trailed off, but Jackson knew he was asking about the freak storm from earlier and he nodded. "Did you come here alone?"

Isaac nodded and Jackson could not help but smirk a little. At least he was not the only one. "What is this?" Isaac questioned as he walked over to where Jackson was, his face scrunching up as well.

He shrugged a little, shoving his hands in his pockets as he said, "Stiles might know."

"Where is he?"

At the other beta's question, Jackson's brow furrowed and he pulled out his phone as he mumbled that he did not know. He then called up Stiles while nodding in the direction that he had left his car in, having a sinking feeling that they needed to get out of there the longer that they were there. "Stiles?" he said when the phone call was answered.

"Hey, Jackson, what's up?" replied Stiles, pinning his phone to his ear as he shifted through some papers on his desk.

"Where are you right now?" Jackson and Isaac walked faster toward the car as it started to rain again and both climbed in just before it started to pour.

"What's going on? Is it raining?" Stiles looked out his window to see that it was not raining there, but he could see clouds in the distance. "I'm at home. Why?"

Both Jackson and Isaac jumped at an overly loud clap of thunder and Jackson pinned his phone to his ear with his shoulder while throwing the car into reverse so that they could get out of there. "Derek's told us to keep an eye out for anything weird, right? Well, there's some kind of altar in the woods. It's _big_, bigger than one person would need; and, it drew enough energy for multiple lightning strikes without leaving a mark."

Stiles brow furrowed as he reached up with his free hand to ruffle his hair. "I've not heard anything of a group practicing or anything," Stiles stated as he dropped down into his seat, tapping the side of the coffee cup sitting there as his eyes flashed gold before turning black as he warmed up his coffee. "I'll ask Bridget at work tomorrow." Stiles nodded a little to himself, his eyes returning to normal as he held the re-warmed drink to his lips to take a sip.

"Alright, thanks. I'm gonna take Isaac to Derek's. D'you mind if I come by after?"

Stiles smiled a little at the question and shook his head, even though Jackson could not see. "No, yeah, that's fine. I'll see you then."

After the two of them said their good-byes and hung up the phone, Stiles sighed and ran a hand through his hair, looking back out the window before looking at his coffee, which he pushed aside. He needed to stop doing things like that. He was using a lot more magic over the previous few months, mostly little things but those little things added up fast. He was a lot better at healing spells, finally, and had gotten to the point that he could heal himself even faster than the werewolves would heal. He had promised his dad he would not delve far into the magic thing, but the more he learned, the more enticing it grew. He had known that it was a possibility; but, after having been _useless_ to help Jackson on the day that he had gotten bit, he knew he could not just sit by and do nothing anymore.

Jackson had almost _died_, something that still made his heart clench painfully and he had to force himself to take a deep, shaky breath. Stiles clenched his eyes shut and reminded himself that Jackson was _fine_. He was no longer human, but at least he was _safe_. He ran a hand over his face and got up, grabbing the cup of coffee to take downstairs. Once he got to the kitchen, he dumped out the drink and rinsed it clean before putting it into the dish washer.

It was then that Stiles started to make dinner for himself and his dad with enough for Jackson, too, if he was hungry. It was nothing special, just simple spaghetti and garlic toast; but, that was about all the skill in cooking that Stiles had. He was almost finished when he heard his father call from the front hall, "Jackson's here!"

With a smile, Stiles set aside the plates he pulled out before going over to the front hall to meet the other teen while his dad went back to the living room to watch some sort of game on the television. Stiles thought it was baseball, but he could have been wrong. "Hi," Stiles said with a bright smile as he leaned in to give his boyfriend of several months a kiss. The two of them had finally worked things out and officially became a couple soon after Jackson's first shift.

Stiles had been there the entire time, much to Jackson's dismay. He had not wanted Stiles there to see him like that; but, Stiles remained, helping the others keep him in the old subway car. It was quickly discovered that Stiles was Jackson's anchor, just as Jackson was slowly becoming Stiles' anchor when it came to using magic. "C'mon, dinner might burn," Stiles said as he took Jackson's hand and led the other teen into the kitchen where he could keep a better eye on dinner. "So, what's going on?"

"We don't know," answered Jackson with a shake of his head as Stiles hopped up to sit on the counter. Jackson moved to stand right in front of him, each of Stiles' knees pressing against his hips. "Just that there's some creepy altar in the woods. Derek tried to seem nonchalant about it; but, we could tell he was nervous."

They all knew that Derek was not fond of magic, and an altar that size did not bode well for them. Stiles simply hummed a little in response, nodding a little, though he did not say anything. "Are you okay?" Jackson asked after a few quiet moments, making Stiles' hands still where they were absentmindedly running along Jackson's arms.

"Yeah," answered Stiles with a sigh and a nod. "Just tired. Been busy lately from work and school, filling out all those scholarship applications." He nodded again and gently squeezed Jackson's arms with a slight smile. "I missed you." They had not been able to spend much time together in the previous month or two, once things at school and around Beacon Hills had started to pick up. It made it difficult to have time to do anything that was not somehow working.

"I missed you, too." Jackson's tone was one that led Stiles to believe that he was being honest as the other teen's hands rested on his hips with a gentle squeeze. He had noticed that after Jackson turned the young man had become a lot more touchy, not that Stiles minded. He loved when Jackson would shift his fingers through his lengthening hair or would hug him close. It was nice, not something he was _used_ to yet, but still nice.

They continued to talk quietly, mostly about school, until Stiles gently pushed Jackson away so that he could move and get the garlic toast out of the oven. "Dad, dinner's done!" Stiles called over to where the doorway was so that the man could hear him easier, smiling when Jackson helped him with setting plate and glasses out for the three of them.

John, Stiles, and Jackson sat at the table as they ate, talking about some of the things that had been going on and school. College got brought up, and Stiles admitted that he still had no idea where he wanted to go. Jackson was going to the college in the neighboring town but would continue to live in Beacon Hills since it was less than a thirty-minute drive. Stiles knew that the two of them would support him no matter where he chose to go to school; but, Stiles was unsure if he wanted to be that far away from the pack or not. He would probably end up doing the same as Jackson and everyone else.

After dinner, Stiles and Jackson went up to Stiles' room, where they worked on homework and talked some more. Stiles had closed the door behind them with a small burst of magic that made Jackson's brow raise, but he did not comment. He had noticed Stiles' increase in doing small things like that; but, he had yet to comment on it. As long as Stiles continued to keep control, Jackson did not feel a need to bring it up. Derek was not worried, so he did not feel like he needed to be.

It was late when Jackson finally left, the two teens taking a long few minutes to just hang on to one another before Jackson actually exited the house. Letting out a breath he did not realize he was holding, Stiles went back up to his bedroom, trying to ignore the fact that as he flexed his fingers to try to dispel the tingling feeling there, a slight breeze ruffled everything in his room. His windows were shut. He walked over to the window that overlooked the woods behind the house and watched as lightning lit up the sky once again. Someone was practicing out in the woods, and the magic they were using was drawing Stiles to join. He _wanted_ to join. Instead, he reached up to play with the class ring he wore around a thin chain; Jackson's class ring. It was cheesy, but the sentiment was nice, and Stiles used the ring as a way to keep him grounded whenever he did practice magic because all it took was a simple touch of the cool metal to have him remembering when Jackson had given it to him.

They had been tangled up in one another's arms at Jackson's place, talking about nothing really when Jackson grabbed it out of the Jostens bag that was sitting on the bedside table. Stiles had laughed and accused the other teen of being corny, but he still attempted to wear the ring. It was slightly too big, though; and they settled for him wearing it around his neck. Everyone in school knew what it was anyway.

Stiles smiled a little at the memory and turned to start getting ready for bed. He pushed all thoughts of the supernatural out of his mind as he finally collapsed into the bed, wishing that Jackson was there. He found that he slept easier when the other teen was right there. Settling for wrapping his fingers around the ring he still wore around his neck, Stiles slowly fell into a very restless sleep.


End file.
